This application claims the priority of 196 36 379.9, filed Sep. 9, 1996, the disclosure of which is expressly incorporated by reference herein.
The invention relates to a method and apparatus for controlling transport and travel operations, in which the route between the starting point and the destination point, which is optimized under preselectable aspects, is determined and made available by means of a computer on the basis of stored general information, by way of the junction points of a traffic network.
Various methods of this type are known. They are essentially based on data collections (as a rule, on CD-ROM), which contain the data of a traffic network, such as a road, railroad or flight network, and use a computer which determines the most favorable route between two or optionally several points of the respective network. In this case, parameters, such as price, speed, route distance or the like, are taken into account. The user enters the starting point (locality, street) and the destination, and receives a corresponding route plan.
In practice, it has been found, however, that many more parameters must be taken into account in order to generate an optimal route suggestion. Thus, it is of interest, for example, whether or not the traveler has luggage to be transported. In addition, the junction points of normal traffic networks are relatively loosely distributed so that, although the smallest element that can be used within a city may be a street, for example; within a country, the smallest element that can be used may only be a "city district" or the like. In addition, the conventional route planners contain no information concerning construction sites present for a limited time which may prevent access to the destination on the suggested route. Finally, they contain no information beyond the traffic network, as, for example, that, although the destination is on a bus stop and on a principal street, the bus operates only in rush-hour traffic and at this time the road is completely clogged. Furthermore, they are incapable of indicating a destination upon the visitor's request which, for example, has the characteristic of being a currently open beer garden which he can reach by public transportation before 8 p.m. and from which he can still use public transportation after 11 p.m. for the trip home.
It is an object of the invention to provide a method which permits the use of all relevant information for the connection possibilities between an exact starting point and an exact destination point to establish an optimal route plan.
It is another object of the invention to carry out a proportion of the overall mobility which is as large as possible in an efficient and environmentally compatible manner such that all available public and private traffic means and systems are optimally utilized and used according to their strengths. In addition to the automobile, this includes all rail-bound short-distance and long-distance means of transport and air traffic. Part of the new approach is a communication concept which is to be utilized intuitively and which ensures an easy access to the system by the users.
Other objects, advantages and novel features of the present invention will become apparent from the following detailed description of the invention when considered in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.